CHAPTER 17
Matt suffered through another long, uneventful night in the van. Uneventful, that is, after Osterhouse's Houdini impersonation and his wig brushing session. He met Uncle Roy in the parking lot a short distance away.
"I talked to CJ last night about the change in plans. She and Chris are going to take care of planting the cameras in the cemetery office. It shouldn't be too much trouble to find the hidden room in that house – it's got to run off of the stairwell." He took a bite out of the sausage biscuit that Uncle Roy had brought for him.
Uncle Roy drank his coffee. "I just wonder what he's got in there. You say he was in there over two hours?"
"Yep, closer to two and a half." He took a gulp of coffee and was wishing he could go home and just go to bed. He was sleepy and the caffeine just didn't seem to be clearing the fog.
They waited until they saw Osterhouse pass by in his car, then went back to the street. Both men picked up clipboards out of the van and clipped official-looking ID's on the front of their shirts before heading up toward the house. They acted like they were inspecting utility connections before walking around to the back and picking the lock on the door.
Matt led the way into the house and walked straight to the stairwell. He had brought a flashlight with him, but flipped the light switch on the wall as well. "There it is." He pointed out a small knob that was half hidden by the fuse box on the wall. He pulled a pair of leather gloves out of his pocket as Uncle Roy did the same, then eased the door open. It was completely dark inside. He shone the flashlight around but couldn't find a switch without going into the room. He stepped inside then turned to shine the light on the wall and found what he was looking for and flipped the switch. Matt and Roy were both stunned.
The interior of the room looked like a shrine to Natalie Wycomb. There were movie posters on the walls from each of the films that she had made, along with numerous autographed photos of her. An old projector was in the center of the room and a movie screen was pulled down at the far end. Matt stepped next to the projector and looked at the title on the film canister. "Don't Look Back" was the title of the film that was last played. He told Roy what he had found.
"Well, I just found something else. We need to talk to Hoyt." He pointed to three glass jars on a shelf – all three contained pairs of eyeballs. Matt was wide awake now.